GMAT Trends : India – Part 2

17 September, 2019

In the second part of our two-part series on GMAT Trends: India, we will focus on the various programs that the Indian and the Global candidates sitting for GMAT apply to. But before that, let’s continue our discussion on selectivity.

Selectivity:

Selectivity does not depend solely on the applicant’s profile or performance, but it also depends on the applicant’s competitors. If a candidate belongs to a particular category that has a large number of other candidates that are applying from, then the selectivity decreases. Let’s say that 2 Indian candidates scored 740 in GMAT and both of them are engineering students from IIT with 2 years of work experience, however one of them has worked in the manufacturing industry while the other in the IT industry. In this scenario, the candidate from manufacturing industry has a higher chance of being considered because the percentage of candidates from manufacturing industry is smaller in number than the number of candidates from the IT industry.

Hence selectivity depends on the application pool’s profile. Let’s take a look at two more examples:

Example 1: Nationality of the applicants

For the 2-year MBA programs in the US, 16% applicants are Indians; hence the selectivity of an Indian will be less as compared to an applicant of an underrepresented country like Nepal.

Example 2: Geographic location of the Institutes

For MBA programs in the US ending in less than 2 years, 15% applicants are Indians and for the same programs if pursued in the UK, then 27% applicants are from India. This means that for an Indian, selectivity of getting into the US program is more as compared to that for an institute in the UK.

Programs:

If you look at the table below, you will see that globally, 40% of candidates sitting for GMAT are applying for the 2-year MBA courses, while only 10% candidates sitting for GMAT are applying for MBA programs ending in less than 2 years.

However, you can observe the changing trends from 2014 to 2018 from the table below. The percentage of candidates applying for Master in Management course has increased from 4% to 6% over the years and that for Master in Data Analytics or Data Science has steadily increased over the years from 1% to 4%. From the GMAC data, it seems that Data Analytics is the next emerging course, globally for the aspirants sitting for the GMAT.

Out of 85k+ Indian candidates, 43% apply for the full time, 2-year MBA degree followed by 19% applying for the 1-year MBA degree and 18% applying for PGDM. However, over the last 5 years, Indians applying for the 2-year MBA programs have decreased by 8% and percentage of Indians applying for MIM is slowly increasing over the time. Also, the popularity amongst Indians for MBA programs ending in less than 2 years has seen a steady increase from TY 2016. For Data Analytics course the percentage increase among Indians is miniscule – from less than 1% to 2%+.

In absolute value, the number of Indians applying for different programs globally, year-on-year, is as follows:

Program Type

TY2014

TY2015

TY2016

TY2017

TY2018

Total

116,652

101,352

102,642

90,925

85,371

MBA, full-time, 2 years

59,327

52,348

51,306

41,933

36,963

MBA, full-time, less than 2 years

19,585

16,303

15,654

15,086

15,924

Post Graduate Diploma

17,541

14,915

16,771

16,319

15,004

Master in Management

3,498

3,343

3,756

4,231

5,039

Master in Data Analytics or Data Science

739

1,135

1,801

1,798

1,788

Table 11b: Number of Indian GMAT test takers applying globally (including India) for different programs year-on-year

2-year MBA programs:

Through GMAT if 100 Indians are applying for 2-year MBA programs, 91% of them are applying for MBA programs in the US, 13% in Canada, 6% in Singapore and only 4% in India. The number of Indians applying for 2-year MBA programs in India through GMAT is just 1353. Over the last 5 years Indians are applying more for Canada and the popularity for US as an MBA destination has decreased.

See the table below for details:

2-year MBA programs

TY2014

TY2015

TY2016

TY2017

TY2018

wrt TY 2014

US

82%

84%

83%

79%

74%

-8%

Canada

6%

5%

6%

9%

12%

6%

Table 12: Country wise percentage split of Indian GMAT test takers applying for MBA in 2 years

However, in the global scenario, US is the most sought after place for 2-year MBA programs. 87% of the candidates apply to the US for 2-year MBA programs. Out of all the candidates who apply for the 2-year MBA programs in the US, currently, 16% are Indians.

MBA programs ending in less than 2 years:

For MBA programs ending in less than 2 years, Indians prefer France (21%) and the UK (20%), followed by Canada (16%), Singapore (13%) and US (11%). The popularity amongst Indians to pursue MBA programs ending in less than 2 years in Canada has increased over the years while there is a considerate decrease in its popularity in the US.

MBA (less than 2 years)

TY2014

TY2015

TY2016

TY2017

TY2018

wrt TY 2014

France

18%

19%

19%

21%

21%

4%

UK

22%

21%

20%

19%

21%

-1%

Canada

8%

9%

12%

15%

15%

7%

Singapore

17%

15%

14%

13%

12%

-4%

US

20%

19%

20%

15%

11%

-8%

Table 13: Country wise percentage split of Indian GMAT test takers applying for MBA in less than 2 years

In the global scenario, also, the popularity to pursue MBA programs ending in less than 2 years is decreasing in the US and there is a directional increase of applicants to pursue it in France.

MBA (less than 2 years)

TY2014

TY2015

TY2016

TY2017

TY2018

wrt TY 2014

UK

22%

22%

22%

23%

24%

2%

US

32%

30%

29%

25%

22%

-9%

France

14%

15%

16%

18%

18%

4%

Canada

10%

10%

11%

12%

12%

2%

Table 14: Country wise percentage split of Global GMAT test takers applying for MBA in less than 2 years

Canada has become the new emerging destination for MBA probably because of the stay back option. An international student can stay back in Canada for 3 years after completing 2-year MBA programs and can stay back for 1 year after completing the 1-year MBA course.

MIM :

For MIM, Indians prefer France (28%) followed by the UK (19%) and the US (15%). Indians’ interest for MIM in France is steadily increasing over the years while for the US it has reduced from 29% (in the test taking year 2014) to 15% (in TY 2018).

PGDM is also taught outside India and Indians apply for PGDM abroad in countries like the US, Sweden, Canada and the UK.

While students from other countries, mostly the neighbouring countries such as, the UAE, Singapore and Nepal apply for PGDM in India.

Let’s summarise what you just read!

• MBA (2 years) – Almost half of the Indians sitting for the GMAT apply for this course. Indians apply for the US mostly.• MBA (less than 2 years) – Almost one out of 5 Indians sitting for the GMAT apply for this course. Indians prefer France and the UK while applying for this course.• MIM – Again for MIM also, Indians prefer France and the UK.• PGDM – This course is popular in India.• Popularity amongst Indians to apply for all these programs in the US is decreasing over the years. The most sought after countries are Canada (2-year MBA and MBA ending in less than 2 years) and France (for MIM).

*TY: Test Taking Year

Data source: GMAC report on geographic trend on testing year 2018

Insight Generation: GoFYI Research Team

To read the Part One of the Two Part series on GMAT Trends: India, click here

To develop your profile, create a POD and increase your selectivity through GMAT for study MBA abroad, please contact our councilors at consulting@imsindia.com or book an appointment with any of our admission consultants at 9930150523.

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